Growing Up
by crazytomboy78
Summary: Sequel to Taking Over. The three Stark children are older now, and have to learn a few things about growing up. Especially being Starks; there are a few things that would be helpful to know.
1. Fae Is Going to College?

**Hey peeps! Wuddup? So, I'm going to start naming my chapters now because it will help me with titles. If you haven't noticed, I'm not too good at 'em. Lullllzz. AANDD, this is in fact the sequel to Taking Over.**

Fae, now 17 and a senior in high school, sat cross-legged on her bed, laptop on her lap. She was busy talking to Katy online, and texting five different people on her phone, when Autumn burst in. Autumn was 13 by now, and in 8th grade. **(A/N: correct me if my math is wrong. In the first one, Fae was 7 when Autumn was born and Michael was 5. I couldn't change that, because it was being retarded. What I wanted to change it to was Fae was only four when Autumn was born, Micheal being two when Autumn was born. Pretend that's what the first one says, please and thanks?) **

"Fae, mom says you have to get downstairs right now." Autumn explained, wise-mouthed.

"Well, what does she want?" Fae asked.

"Are you kidding me, Fae? Mom called dinner, like, 10 minutes ago!" Autumn explained.

"Well I couldn't hear her due to the fact I was blasting music on my laptop! I mean, really? Wow." Fae complained. She and Pepper didn't always see eye to eye, and Michael was getting to be more and more like his dad every day. He said that he wanted to take over the company when Tony retires, and he was serious. There's nothing else he'd rather do.

Fae closed her laptop and got off her bed. Sliding her phone into her jeans pocket, she walked down the stairs to a waiting Pepper. Autumn walked down the stairs behind Fae.

"Fae Isabelle Stark, where were you ten minutes ago when I called you down for dinner?" Pepper asked, irritated.

"Well, gee, I don't know. Up in my room, blasting music on my laptop? How about that? Maybe that's why I _didn't hear you?_" Fae defended herself. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Well, next time Fae, turn it down so you can hear me when I call you. OK?" Pepper finalized. They never really got into arguments, and Pepper never really felt the need to yell. So they didn't.

They both took their seats at the dinner table. As usual, Tony wasn't in his seat; Pepper had a pretty good idea of where he was.

"Well now we know where Fae gets it from." Pepper sighed. She got up from her seat and walked to the basement door.

"TONY, I TOLD YOU TO GET UP HERE TWENTY MINUTES AGO!" Pepper screeched into the basement.

"I'm working! Send dinner down later!" Tony shouted back. Pepper rolled her eyes and asked the robot maid to wrap up Tony's dinner and send it down to him.

"Well, as usual, your father is working and won't come upstairs." Pepper explained, sitting at the table. The three had already begun eating, so Pepper picked up her fork and dug into her meatloaf.

Fae had grown a lot taller by now. Her brown hair wasn't exactly curly, but it wasn't straight either. It was wavy; that is, of course, since she curled ever so little just to get the waviness; it reached to her shoulders. Her brown eyes were same as ever, and her freckles the same as well. She wasn't the girliest girl there was, but she wasn't exactly tomboy either. She was more in the middle. Like a mix of both. Her brown eyes seemed to sparkle and dance in the moonlight, and she was quite the pretty girl. Fae didn't really want to take after her father, being in charge or involved in Stark International, but instead use her knowledge for other purposes. She mostly dressed in jeans, logo tees, both long sleeve and short sleeve, and vests of all different sorts.

Michael, however, took more after Tony than anybody else in the family. He did have red hair, and it was a bit long; he'd grown bangs that end just above his eyelids, and his hair wasn't too long. It only reached mid-ear. His skin was as pale as Pepper's, and his eyes, a crystal, icy blue, danced in the sunlight. He'd taken more of an interest in his knowledge than Fae had, and he always worked with Tony on lots of his different projects. He really did want to take over the company one day. He'd work alongside his father until Tony was ready to retire. He dressed casually, too. Just a simple t-shirt, jeans; sweatshirt, most of the time.

Autumn had grown to resemble Pepper the most. She had brown hair, but you could see the red mixed in it from across the room. Her crystal, icy blue eyes were beautiful and slightly more tanned skin than Pepper's and Michael's. At the moment, she was telling a rambly-long story about who knows what, talking a lot, just like Pepper. Michael and Fae always joked about the long conversations the two would always have during long car rides and times they spent together at home. Autumn dressed more as Pepper, also; dark jeans, a pink t-shirt with a white long sleeve underneath, or just a pink sweatshirt, and occasionally she'd take more after Pepper and wear leggings with a t-shirt and jean shorts. It differed most of the time.

"So, Fae; what have you gotten accomplished as far as college acceptance?" Pepper asked. It was mid-January, and Fae had gotten numerous acceptance letters so far. Pretty much every college was dying to have 'the prodigy daughter of genius successor Tony Stark' attend their college. All she had to do was choose the one she wanted to go to.

"Well, pretty much every college in the world wants me to go to their college, so I really don't have to do anything but sit back and choose." Fae explained.

"That's good. Do you have an idea of which one you want to attend?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, I was thinking Harvard, Yale or maybe even Cornell." Fae said.

"Maybe more. I don't know." Fae added.

They stopped the college talk, because there was really nothing more to say on the topic. Fae was really excited to go to college, and get out of her house where her father was constantly working in his lab, or at work, and your younger siblings are always all over you. She was excited to be starting out on her own life more than anything.

Suddenly, the four heard a doorknob start to giggle. The robot-maid attended to the door, and in came Rhodey and his young four-year old girl, Alana. He had one child older than Alana, another girl who was about roughly a year or two younger than Autumn; her name is Jennifer. Since the two Rhodes girls weren't exactly close in age to any of the Stark children, they didn't get along as close friends; Autumn and Jennifer, formerly known as Jenny or Jen, were probably the closest. Since Alana was still little, she liked to cling to Fae most of the time.

"Hey Uncle James!" Autumn greeted first. Micheal and Fae rolled their eyes at their youngest sister's perkiness, and smiled a hello.

"Hi Fae!" Alana greeted in her four-year-old voice, which made her sound very cute, as she excitedly ran to Fae. Fae got out of her seat and picked up Alana and greeted her excitedly.

"Hi, Rhodey." Pepper greeted, smiling at her children's individual reactions.

"I swear, Autumn is just like you." Rhodey commented. Pepper nodded.

"Tony is in his lab working again, I presume?" Rhodey asked. They walked into the kitchen and Pepper put the dishes from dinner into the sink and the dishwasher. She'd let the robo-maid get to them later.

"Yes, your presumption is correct." Pepper answered. Rhodey nodded. He walked down to Tony's lab and visited him, assuming he wasn't busy enough to look up to him and talk.

"Hey Jen." Autumn greeted.

"Hi, Autumn!" Jenny greeted back. They continued their conversation in Autumn's room. Fae took Alana to her room and played with her. Michael, with no cousin to talk to, went to his room.

Pepper, after having nothing to do, decided that it would be nice to just hang out in Tony's lab, just the three of them, like old times. They could talk and be friends like they used to, during their times at the Tomorrow Academy.

Speaking of high school, Pepper reminded herself, the high-school reunion was this weekend. She knew everyone would be there, and she was trusting on Fae to watch over both her siblings and her cousins for the weekend. The school was in the same town, NYC, which they lived in, but they were going to stay in a nearby hotel instead, like all the other reunioners. It was almost like tradition. The actual reunion would be held in a reception room at the hotel, and it would last until midnight; then all the guests would go upstairs to their rooms and sleep. The next day, the second part would take place; a brunch party.

"What exactly are you doing down here that's so important, Tony?" Pepper asked, curiously. She sighed when she saw the armor out.

"Of course. The armor."

"Well, what did you expect? He loves this thing like a fourth child," Rhodey teased.

"It's his pride and joy!" Rhodey added. Pepper laughed.

"One of them, at least." She said, referring to her hope that his own three children were more important.

"Tee-hee, guys." Tony piped in. Pepper leaned on the table next to Rhodey.

Since it was Friday, the next day was time for the reunion. Pepper, Rhodey and Tony were all standing at the front door with their overnight bags. Rhodey had come in a few minutes ago to drop off Alana and Jenny. It was about 7:30 at night, so Fae was in charge of each child's bedtime.

"You got it, Fae? We're trusting you." Pepper asked, after giving full instruction.

"Yes, mother. I can handle this." Fae said. Pepper nodded.

"Alright, goodbye guys!" The three adults waved, walking out the door.

"Alright, Alana! Time for bed!" Fae said.

"Okay, Fae!" Alana smiled. She would do anything Fae told her to do. Fae took Alana to her room and got her pj's on.

After sending Alana to bed in the guest bed in her room, she walked back to the living room where Autumn and Jenny were using Autumn's laptop.

"You two, bed at 10:30, got that?" Fae ordered. They looked up from the computer screen for a minute, nodded, and looked back to the screen.

"Mic. I don't need to tell you anything besides I'm in charge, and dad locked the lab up for the weekend; so don't go berserk over it, ok?" Michael nodded.

"Good. Make sure they get to bed on time. I'll be in my room." Fae said. She went to her room, got out her laptop, and respecting Alana's prescence, silently IMed Katy and texted her friends. Michael was watching TV, and Autumn and Jenny were on the laptop. It would be a quiet, relaxing night.

**Well, good first chapter, ya? Lol, I loved writing their later lives. Seriously, feel free to correct my math and remember the adjustment I made to their age differences. Thanks so much! Review!**


	2. Babysitting

**Heyy! What is upp? I just love this story…and totally forgot about it. Sorry!**

Fae awoke the next morning to pure silent bliss. No loud sounds of dad working in the lab, no loud television blasting in her ears from her siblings' rooms. She looked over to Alana's bed to see she was just waking up, too. She watched Alana stretch her arms and sit up in her crib, which only had three sides; no fourth slide-down gate. She slid out of her bed and walked over to Fae's bed.

"Good morning, Fae-Fae!" Alana greeted. Fae got out of her bed and picked up Alana.

"Morning, Alana. Want some breakfast?" Alana nodded. Fae smiled and carried the little Alana to the kitchen. She noticed on the clock that it was already 10:53. Almost 11. _Dang. _She thought to herself, _we all sleep late in this family._

Fae noticed that Autumn was already awake, and learned that she'd been awake since 9:30. She was the only one out of everyone that could wake up earlier than 10 a.m. She was such an early bird. Michael woke up a few minutes later. He, of course, ate a quick breakfast and stuffed himself in his room and started working on his latest creation. She didn't know what exactly it was, because she'd never heard anything about it, or even seen it. She didn't even care, though. She had more important things to worry about than what her 15-year-old younger brother was doing. Autumn was just watching TV, since she had no genius to invent; since she was just like mom. Not a morning person, talkative, still smart though. Energetic all the time. Everything in their mom, was in Autumn now too.

"Autumn, did you have breakfast yet?" Fae asked. Autumn shook her head without looking away from the TV screen.

"Well, I'm making pancakes for me and Alana. And where's Jen?" Autumn pointed to the door next to the kitchen, just before the hall began.

"Bathroom. Showering." Autumn answered, still not taking her eyes off the television.

"OK. I'll tell you when the pancakes are ready." Fae said, walking into the kitchen. She sat Alana on a stool in the kitchen, and began making the pancakes.

As their morning went on, they ate their pancakes and Fae, being in charge, decided it was time for them to get moving.

"Come on, Autumn. It's time to get changed." Jenny had joined Autumn at the TV, already showered, brushed and ready for the day. She was a real early bird, just like Rhodey. Her and Alana both, sometimes. Most of the time Alana woke late in the morning.

"Fine." Autumn responded. She got up and walked to her room and got ready for the day. Fae took Alana to the bathroom and drew a bath. **(A/N: wohhh, fancy worddd!) **She undressed Alana, and bathed her. Then dressed her, then brushed her teeth and hair.

Once everyone was all ready for the day, they decided it would probably be a good idea to do something together. Michael wanted to go downstairs and invent stuff, but since Tony locked it off, he couldn't. This meant he was sucked into 'game time!', which everyone else was participating in. They were playing a game called 'Apples to Apples', a real fun game **(A/N: played that game a million times.) **Alana was helping Fae, and the rest were on their own.

They played for a few hours before the game ended, and it was just about time for their parents to return. They cleaned up the game, and just as they were storing it away, the door opened and in walked Tony, Pepper and Rhodey. They were laughing about something; something that Fae guessed she either didn't care to know, or didn't want to know.

"Hey, kids!" Pepper greeted, a wide smile on her face. She put hers and Tony's shared suitcase on the floor next to her.

"Hey, mom! How was it?" Fae asked, putting Alana on the floor to run over to her father and greet him with a hug.

"Real fun, honey. Real fun!" Pepper responded. Jen greeted her father, and Michael and Autumn greeted their parents.

"Hey guys! So, was Fae a good babysitter?" Tony asked. They nodded. Alana wildly nodded, though. She loved Fae; adored Fae.

"Good. Now you can do it more often." Tony smiled.

"Dad! I have a life too, you know!" Fae defended herself. Tony laughed and brought his bags to his room.

Later, while Pepper and Fae were in the kitchen and everyone else off to their own business, like the Rhodes unpacking at their house, and Pepper brought up an important idea.

"Fae, you have to decide what college you want to go to. The school year is almost over." Pepper warned.

"I know, mom. But I'm afraid I'll pick the wrong college!" Fae complained. She had every college in the country at her knees, begging her to come to their college, and she didn't know which one she wanted.

"Well, honey, you have to choose the college you know you're going to feel right at." Pepper said, putting her hands on Fae's shoulders.

"Easy for you to say, you tried out for S.H.E.I.L.D. right out of high school, got denied, and worked for dad. Neither of you went to college!" Fae complained further.

"Well, that's not completely true. I went to college for three years before I got denied." Pepper explained.

"Well, still. That college was chosen for you." Fae said. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Not the point. Fae, which college do you really feel right at?" Pepper asked.

"Well….." Fae thought for a moment. "Definitley Princeton." She answered.

"Then go to Princeton! They've been dying for you to go." Fae smiled.

"Yeah, that's it! I'm going to Princeton! Thanks mom!" Fae exclaimed, giving Pepper a quick hug then running to her father, currently in his lab. God forbid he be separated from it for more than a day.

"Dad, dad, guess what!" Fae shouted into the lab.

"What is it?" Tony asked, lifting his welding mask and looking up at Fae.

"I chose the college I want to go to!" Fae explained.

"That's great! Which one?" He asked. She smiled.

"Princeton!" She exclaimed.

"That's great!" Tony congratulated, patting her on the back. She smiled.

**REALLY short chapter, but oh well. Not exactly inspired, or in the mood to write tonight at all. Review?**


	3. Fae's Got A Date!

**Hey! It's been waaayyyy too long. So sorry! I got bored and decided hey, I should update!**

"Sure, sounds great!" Fae hung up the phone. She'd just made plans with Katy to go to lunch. That is, if she could get a car. It was never really an issue, since her father is in charge of a billion dollar company, and never has money as an issue. She could get a car whenever she asked for it.

She got off her bed and shoved her phone in her pocket quickly before dashing down the stairs.

"Going to lunch with Katy, be back later!" Fae explained to Pepper as Pepper sat on the couch, reading the newspaper.

"Ok, have fun." Pepper said, not looking up from the newspaper. Fae grabbed the keys to a light green convertible she'd bought last month. It was all hers, and no one else's. She sat herself in the driver's seat, buckled her seatbelt and drove off. She stopped at Katy's apartment and picked her up, and then they went downtown. They stopped at a McDonalds and ate inside, next to the window. As Fae looked out the window, she saw someone familiar walking right outside their window. She tapped on the glass to get his attention and waved at him. He smiled and waved back. He got out his phone and sent her a text.

_Hey, Fae! (:_

Fae smiled at him and looked back down at her phone.

_Hey, Max! What's up?_

By now, the boy standing outside the window, Max, had found a nearby bench and sat down. His back was facing the window.

_Just sitting here, walking through town._

_You must be talented then, if you can walk and sit at the same time (: lol._

_Funny. Care if I join? _ Fae smiled in excitement, and before responding, squealed at Katy. Fae had developed a crush on Max at the beginning of the school year.

_Sure, we don't mind!_ They noticed Max stand from his bench and walk into the restaurant. He found their table and smoothly dragged a chair over. He had the back of the chair facing the table, and sat in the chair backwards; legs on each side of the metal bar holding the back rest of the chair.

"So, what's up, ladies?" He smiled. Fae saw a sparkle in his eyes.

"Just having lunch, is all." Katy answered.

"Cool. That's cool."

"Yes. It's awesome." Fae teased, smiling. Max texted Katy something he didn't want to whisper in his ear. She read the text, smiled, and excused herself to go to the bathroom. Secretly, Katy hid in the doorway and peeked at the table with her best friend and her best friend's crush to watch what would happen.

"So, Fae, there's a dance coming up soon, and I was wondering, if you, uhh, wanted to go with me?" Max asked nervously. Fae smiled. She wanted to scream, but she kept her excitement contained…sort of.

"Sure." She said weakly but happily. She smiled dreamily.

"Great. See ya at 7 Wednesday." Max smiled, rose from his chair and walked out. Katy walked back to the table and sat down. They were quiet for a moment, then squealed like mice.

"Oh my gosh, he actually asked me out!" Fae squeaked. Katy smiled widely.

"I know!" Katy responded.

**Wellzz…really short but oh well. Let's say I meant to make it that short. Didn't have that much to say todayyyy…teehee (: review!**


	4. Max is Full of Surprises!

**Hey! Sorry it's been a while, I'm getting lazy. Gotta keep myself moving! Of course, you've all waited longer for some chapters, so I suppose its ok, right? Who am I kidding, it's not. Lol. Here we go!**

"So, what are you going to wear?" Katy asked, perched on Fae's desk.

"Katy, please get off my desk? It wasn't meant for the weight of a human butt." Fae asked politely while digging through her closet for clothes. Fae smirked and turned back to a yellow dress that cut off at the knees. She wanted to look good, but not like one of those over-obsessed girls who find it necessary to match their date's getup. She wasn't that obsessed. Katy hopped off the desk and onto the desk chair.

"What do you think of this one?" Fae turned and held the dress up to her body. Katy rubbed her chin in thought for a moment, and then slapped her hand to her leg.

"Put it in the maybe pile. It looks good on you, but there might just be better in that closet of yours." Katy explained. Fae nodded and threw the dress onto a pile of other, similar dresses on her bed. Next Fae pulled out a sleeveless red dress that cut off an inch above the knee. Katy smiled.

"It's a little too sexy. It says 'Hey, boy. Let's get it on!' like you're a whore or something. It does look good on you though!" Katy explained. Fae smirked and put the dress back in the closet.

"Well, that was the last dress." Fae explained. Katy got off her chair and looked into Fae's closet. She spotted a purple spaghetti strap dress hanging in the very corner of her closet. She pulled it out and held it to Fae's body.

"What about this one?" Katy asked.

"No, I make sure to hide that one. Purple really isn't my color." Fae explained.

"I beg to differ! It looks really good on you, girl!" Katy commented.

"You think so?" Fae asked. Katy nodded her head. Fae shrugged and went into her closet and changed into it. A moment later she walked out.

The dress reached to her knees, as most her maybes did, and it really brought out her curves. It made her look _hot._

"Woah! You look really good? Purple? Not your color? So wrong on that one!" Katy complimented. Fae smiled.

"Aww, really? Thanks!"

Katy put her hands on her hips.

"Girl, it looks like you found your dress!"

"Hey, Katy. How come you're not going to the dance?" Fae asked.

"Pshh, are you kidding me? Wear some stupid dress; get a date and transportation so I can watch people dance all night? I don't think so!" Katy explained. Fae laughed.

Max knocked on the Stark's front door. The scanner frightened him a bit, but then Katy answered the door and let him in.

"Hey, Katy. Where's Fae?" Max asked. He was nervous. After all, he was entering the home of billionaire company owners. And he'd only been good friends with Fae for their whole school career as classmates, and she was super smart and beautiful. She had it all, just like everyone else in her family does. At least, that's what he thought; and it was making him nervous. Really nervous.

He heard footsteps coming from the stairs. A little girl who looked about the age of four ran to the stairs, eager. Katy turned to Max with a seemingly innocent smile.

"So, be good! Because I know where you live and I know how to make Mitch Carbuckle, the toughest kid in school, cry. And I bet I can make you cry, too," Her warning and seemingly angered face turned to an innocent smile. "Akay?" She finalized cheerfully. Max simply nodded.

"Don't mind her, Max. She's just being a good friend in her world." Fae explained, patting Alana on the head and sending her off to the kitchen.

Tony and Pepper came in and smiled. Tony got out his high-tech camera (which, obviously, he made himself. With assistance from Michael, of course.) And Pepper snatched it from him and took the pictures herself.

"Oh, Tony, you can't take a decent picture to save your life." Pepper explained. He laughed.

"Mom's got a good point there, dad! Remember our trip to Virginia, when you tried to take our picture at the boardwalk and you cut all our heads off?" Fae pitched in. Tony mocked a laugh, very childish.

"It can't have been that bad." Tony said.

"Oh, but it was." Fae, Pepper, Max and Katy all laughed. Pepper took the picture and allowed them to leave.

"Oh, Tony; just yesterday we were the ones going to prom and our dads were the ones taking the pictures. Where did all that time go?" Pepper sighed and leaned into Tony's chest. Tony wrapped his arms around Pepper and sighed.

"I don't know, Pep. Time flies."

Max opened the passenger seat of his car for Fae and closed it behind her. He got to his side and buckled his seatbelt. He started the car and drove off.

Fae smiled to herself. Tonight was going to be good.

When they arrived at the school gym, there were already tons of people there, music was playing and lights were flashing. They took the floor and danced for hours together, with their friends and the people around them.

After the dance was over, Max took Fae to the roof and sat with her on the ledge. They watched the stars come out in silence for a while, then Max spoke up.

"You know, tonight's been fun and all, but I only asked you here because…" Fae's face fell. He was about to give her bad news, she could tell. She had a feeling in her gut that she was about to be broken hearted; she was wrong.

"I love you." He smiled and kissed her. It all came as a shock to her, but then she smiled and kissed him back. After they parted, he stood and offered her a hand. She took it and stood. They walked, still holding hands, to Max's car and Max drove Fae home. She waved to him as she walked out the door and dreamily walked inside. She greeted her parents in a daze and walked up to her room to find Katy laying on her bed, using her laptop. She didn't care, though.

"So, how'd it go?" Katy asked. Fae squealed in delight.

"We had fun at the dance all night and we danced with friends and everyone there then he took me to the roof afterwards and we sat and looked at the stars then he turned to me and told me he loved me then he kissed me!" Fae blurted. Katy smiled.

"Awesome!" They squealed together.

"I KNOW!" Fae was too excited for more words.

**Wow….that was more girlyness than I needed. Lol, review!**


	5. Learning Tony's Past

**It's been such a long time. Wow! I'm updating a lot today! BTW, if I never did the last day of school yet in this story, let's just whiz by that and say the whole time they were on summer vacation. Cuz I've used 'the last day of school!' in way too many of my stories. Lol.**

Fae was scurrying all over her room to get the last of her stuff to her father's car. Today was the big day, the day she finally went to college. She was going to stick with math and science, since she was a genius and all, and was going to be a scientist. She wasn't sure if she was going to work for her dad at Stark International, like Michael, but she was considering being a scientist there. It would be a good place to work. See her family every day, and work with them too.

"Come on, Fae! We have to leave!" Pepper yelled up the stairs.

"Coming, mom!" Fae picked up her last bag and paused in her doorway. She turned to say one last goodbye to her room for a long while.

"Goodbye, old room." She patted her doorframe and ran downstairs to Tony's car. She threw her bag into the seat next to her and sat in the back. She was surprised that Tony's car had enough room for all her college stuff, but he was an inventor, and he did know how to maximize space.

"We're off to Princeton!" Pepper cheered.

"I have to be sure to say hi to the dean there. You know, I met him when he asked me to make him a new lock system?" Tony said. Pepper and Fae groaned.

"Not that story again, dad!" Fae complained.

"What, I told that already?" Tony asked innocently.

"Just about a million times!" Fae exaggerated. Tony smiled and laughed.

"Alright, bye everyone!" Pepper waved to Michael, Autumn, Alana, Jen and Rhodey.

"Be good for Uncle James, ok?" Michael and Fae gave their thumbs up, and with that, Tony, Pepper and Fae drove off.

"So, Uncle James, tell me more about what dad was like back then!" Autumn asked, seated next to Jenny on the couch. Rhodey was on an armchair as was Michael. Alana was on the floor by Rhodey's feet.

"More? Alright, well he was always a workaholic; even back then. He used to always pull all nighters working in his lab." Rhodey explained. They all laughed at Tony's dorkyness.

"Uncle James, what happened to dad's parents?" Autumn asked after the room had fallen silent. Rhodey looked down to his feet.

"It's not something your dad likes to talk about." Rhodey started.

"Your grandma Stark passed when your dad was real little..." Rhodey explained.

**Flashback!**

_A young boy with brown hair and blue eyes circled the inside of his playpen joyfully and happily, laughing and giggling as his mother watched him. She took him out of his playpen and carried him outside the house, to the street. Little had she known what would happen next. _

_When she was walking, she saw a black van riding up the street. A suited man with a white mask covering his face hung out the window, aiming a gun directly at her. She set the little boy down beside her._

"_Anthony, go inside and get daddy!" She ordered her son; but it was too late. The man in the white mask pulled the trigger and a bullet soon hit her directly in the heart. The little boy saw the whole thing in terror._

"_MOMMY!" he screamed. He poked her shoulder and nudged her body, but she wouldn't move. More suited masked men approached the woman's dead body._

"_Scram, kid! Beat it!" One of the men shoved the little boy, resulting in him falling to the ground and scraping his arm. The little boy got up and kicked one of the men in the shin, but the man pulled out a gun and aimed it at the little boy._

"_Go away, or I'll kill you too!" The little boy was aware of what death was; he ran back inside his home and watched from his window as the masked men carried his mother's body away._

_The little boy scrambled for his father as he watched the men struggle with the body._

"_Daddy, daddy come here!" he screamed. He ran into his father's home office._

"_What is it, son? Daddy is busy."_

"_The mean men killed mommy and they're taking her away!" The boy pulled his father's pant leg. The man jumped up and ran out the front door, picking up the little boy in the process. He saw the van drive away and put the boy down._

"_Stay here, ok?" the boy nodded. The man began to run after the black van, but after a block, the van was too far off. He stopped and turned back home. He saw his son's saddened blue eyes staring at him in the doorway; the same as his mother's. He knelt to the ground and cried._

**)': flashback end! )':**

"So, grandma was killed by the Maggia?" Michael asked. Rhodey nodded.

"Poor dad…so that's what the scar on his arm is from. He never told us before…" Autumn said.

"Your parents told Fae that before any of you were born, but when they noticed how scarred she was, they didn't want to tell you."

"So what happened to grandpa?" Michael asked.

"Well, it happened when Tony and I were only 16."

**Flashback! (**_**again**_**!)**

"_Now, let's see what's got you all excited." Howard patted Tony's back. _

_They took their seats on the jet and started talking._

_In the basement floor of a shop stood the Mandarin._

"_The only other person that knows anything useful about the rings, Mandarin, is Howard Stark." A servant of the Mandarin explained._

"_Where is Howard Stark now?" The Mandarin asked._

"_On a plane, sir."_

"_I will retrieve him myself."_

_I'm going to go prep before we land." Tony stood and started walking to the back, cheering over a victory in a bet him and his father made._

"_Yay, I'm rich!" Tony joked. He came to a keypad and pressed a few buttons before a bright flare flashed._

"_Howard Stark." The Mandarin began._

"_Please, no. My son-" Howard begged._

"_Is none of my concern." The Mandarin snatched Howard and disappeared._

_The plane exploded, sending Tony and his suit of armor to the ground._

**Flashback end! :( poor Tony.**

"Well, did grandpa ever return?" Michael asked. Rhodey shook his head. They fell silent.

"Poor dad." Autumn shook her lowered head.

"Yeah. Your parents didn't want to tell you because they knew how scarred Tony and Fae were by experiencing or knowing it." Rhodey explained.

"I can understand that…" Autumn said.

"So now you understand what your dad's gone through, right?" Rhodey asked. They nodded.

**Well, that ends that chapter. Just a filler, I know. The whole story is basically a filler, lol! Review!**


	6. And Now It's Off To College!

**Heyyy peoples! Sorry, it's been a while. I've been updating other stories and coming up with new ones, and forgetting about this one completely, then remembering it and finally getting to it just now! Lol, anywayssss….soo, by the way. Anything I explain about Princeton in the story probably isn't true, since I've never been there due to the fact that I'm only fourteen, and am nowhere near college, and since *gasp! Disclaimer.* I don't own any part of the college, nothing I say about it is gonna be true. Except for the location, I looked that up. (x**

The car was pretty much silent, except for a quiet conversation between Tony and Pepper. With Fae squished in the backseat with the stuff that they couldn't fit into the trunk, which was a pretty big trunk. She was playing around with her laptop, which she fixed so that she had internet anywhere she went. Even if she didn't usually like using her geniusness to be an inventor of sorts like her father and brother, she still used it on the things to make her life easier and better. Like inventing her own cell phone so she wouldn't have to be with some phone company, and pay money. Or buy herself a laptop; the one she had, she made herself. And various other little things.

"So, Fae, are you excited for college?" Pepper asked.

"Yeah, mom. It's a whole new experience." Fae said. Pepper nodded.

"College is no party though, honey. It's a lot of hard work. Especially a college so high-maintenance like Princeton." Pepper explained.

"I know, mom. I can handle it." Fae said. Pepper nodded.

"Especially with her knowledge." Tony bragged for her.

"Oh, you just taught her what you know. I taught her the important stuff." Pepper said.

"Which is a lot, mind you." Tony smirked. Pepper rolled her eyes.

"You just love bragging, don't ya dad?" Fae cut in. Tony smiled.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do." Tony said. Fae laughed to herself.

Hours passed in the car before they arrived at Princeton University. When they arrived, they came to the admissions office.

"Alright, we just walk into that office to get your room key first." Tony said.

"Pretty sure we all know that, dad." Fae teased. Tony smirked and walked into the office with Fae and Pepper.

"Well, hello there! Here for your room key, I presume?" The housing advisor asked.

"Yessir, we are!" Tony answered. The housing advisor pointed to the chairs.

"Sit, sit!" The advisor insisted. So they sat.

"So, Ms. Stark. Just sign here and I'll hand you your key!" The advisor pushed a paper towards the three. They read it over together and Fae signed at the bottom.

"Good, good! Here's your key!" The housing advisor handed Fae a gold key with '2-B-34' carved into it.

"2-B-34 would be referring to building 2, floor B, room 34." The advisor explained. The three stood and Tony shook the man's hand.

"Thank you, sir!" Tony said.

"No problem at all, Mr. Stark." The housing advisor said. Tony exited the office with Pepper and Fae. They drove the car over to building 2, and found floor B, room 34. Fae put the key in the keyhole and unlocked the door. Inside, no one was there yet. She placed the bags she was able to carry into the room on the provided bed and looked inside the rather large dorm room. It had two beds, a bathroom down the hall, and a good view of the beach out the window. Tony and Pepper came into the room behind Fae carrying some more of her stuff.

"Umm, honey, aren't you going to help us? These muscles aren't what they used to be." Tony asked, bragging about yet another thing of his. Fae smiled and rolled her eyes. She turned and smiled.

"Yeah, dad. I was just checking the place out." Fae answered. She went back to the car and unloaded more of her stuff.

After a good half an hour, Fae was unloading the last of her stuff when a girl about the same age as Fae came in with a box and a few bags slung over her shoulder. She went over to the empty bed and put her stuff down. She stuck out her hand to Fae.

"Nara Taylor." Nara smiled widely. Nara had blonde hair that was currently tied in a messy bun, green eyes and was fairly tan. She was wearing a light yellow tank top and destroyed denim shorts, and yellow flip-flops. That, plus Nara had a Texas accent. Fae knew right away where this girl was from.

"Fae Stark." Fae explained with a generous smile on her face. Then Tony and Pepper came into the room with the last of Fae's stuff, but set it on the floor by Fae's bed when they saw a new girl in the room.

"No way, _that's _your dad?" Nara leant in and whispered to Fae. Fae nodded.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Stark, my name is Nara Taylor! I'm Fae's roommate this year!" Nara stuck out her hand to Tony nervously. Tony shook it.

"Nice to meet you, Nara." Pepper said. Nara smiled and went over to her bed.

"So, this is it. You're all packed up and ready for life on your own." Tony said.

"I guess so. It's going to be pretty boring at home without me." Fae said.

"Oh, probably. But Autumn and Michael will keep it lively, don't you worry." Pepper said.

"We should probably get to the park now. There's still a lot to be done today." They walked down to the grassy area in the middle of campus that was mainly referred to as the park, where a stage was set up, podium and everything. They joined the crowd of other new coming freshman and listened to the dean start to explain the rules of the campus and other things they needed to know. **(A/N: I really don't know what happens on move-in day, cuz I didn't go with my parents/siblings to their move in days, so whatever, this is probably made up.) **

"And don't forget about our welcoming picnic for all freshman and their parents tomorrow at noon! Have a good day, everyone!" The dean finished. Everyone left for their dorms.

"Well, we should get going to our hotel. See you tomorrow!" Pepper explained. Tony checked his watch. It was about time for dinner.

"Hold up, we should get some dinner together first!" Tony said.

"Wow, Tony, I would've never thought you'd be the one to think of having a meal together as a family!" Pepper teased.

"Tee-hee." Tony said. Pepper and Fae laughed.

**Imma stop it there. Cuz I cannnn (x review!**


	7. One More Story, and Then They're Home

**Heyy, it's been a while! Like, a longer while than it usually is. Sorry, I've been a bit busy. I lost my iPod a few weeks ago and I still can't find it! It's pissing me off. And I've been playing the Sims 3 a wee bit too much, which is what I'd rather be doing right now because I'm getting a little obsessed! LOL. Not that you guys aren't awesome too, you are! I just tend to forget about certain things when obsessing over something else. Anyways, on with the story!**

Back at the Stark residence, Rhodey had started some 'fun family bonding time!' It was Michael, Rhodey and Alana against Jess and Autumn in a raging game of charades. Rhodey checked his watch. Tony and Pepper would be coming home in at least an hour, minus Fae and a whole carload of her stuff. He looked back up to Michael and thought of what he could possibly be acting out for his teammates to guess. Then he knew.

"A photographer!" Rhodey shouted. Michael smiled and pointed.

"Uncle James, can we play a different game now?" Autumn asked. Michael took his seat and Rhodey nodded.

"Of course we can, what did you have in mind?" Rhodey asked.

"Tell us more about my dad's childhood." Autumn suggested.

"Alright, what did you want to know?" Rhodey said.

"What happened to dad and grandpa after grandma died?" Michael asked.

"Well, after grandma died, your dad got real close to your grandpa."

**Overdone in this story, but I don't care. Flashback!**

_At the cemetery, a young Tony and his father still stood over the coffin that was slowly sinking into the ground with the help of the people in charge of burying it. The little boy still let silent tears fall down his cheeks. Howard didn't want his son to see him crying, because he knew now that he had to be strong for his son if Tony was to look up to him alone now. If he was going to be the one his son looked up to. Of course, he'd known that he needed to be a good role model when his son was first born, that's why he quit making weapons for people. _

"_Come on, son. We need to leave." Howard picked up his son and let Tony's head rest on his shoulder, and as they walked back to the car, Tony fell asleep. _

_Once they arrived at their house, Howard unbuckled the still sleeping Tony and set him on the couch so he could sleep. Howard went to his office, shut the door and began to let all the tears that he held in flow down his cheeks. He let everything out that he had held in for the whole day, just so he could show his son that he could be strong. That daddy doesn't cry, and daddy will stay strong. That because daddy can stay strong, Tony can too._

_A half an hour later, Tony woke up and got off the couch. Seeing his father nowhere in sight, he walked over to his father's office door. He pressed his ear to the door and heard the muffled sound of crying. Tony innocently pushed the door open and stood in the doorway._

"_Daddy?" Tony asked. Howard perked his head up to see his son in the doorway. Howard instantly tried to stop crying, but couldn't. Howard beckoned his son to sit on his lap so they could be together. Tony sat on his father's lap and Howard hugged him tightly._

"_Son, sometimes you have to know that it's okay to cry. Sometimes no matter how strong you think you are you have to just let it out to be able to move on. So let it out." Howard said. Tony nodded and suddenly felt his father's advice sink in. He may be just a little boy, but he knew what his father's words meant. He was smart._

"_Daddy, were you crying?" Tony asked. Howard was silent for a moment._

"_Yes." He answered._

"_Don't worry, daddy. We can let it out together. And then we can be strong together." Tony patted his father's cheek._

**Flashback end! Wasn't that just so cute? And Keep Holding On was playing during that last part too (x**

"So they learned to grow together? That must have made them so close." Autumn said. Rhodey nodded.

"That's why your dad was real devastated when the plane crashed." Rhodey said.

"Poor dad. His life just kept going straight down the flusher, didn't it?" Autumn said.

"Until he married your mom and had you three." Rhodey said.

"I think meeting mom started the whole chain of good fortune. Because dad knew that now that he was the dad in the situation he didn't have to worry about losing anyone else in his life." Autumn said.

"Hey, everyone! We're back!" Tony announced as he walked in the door. Rhodey stood, followed by everyone else sitting on the couch.

"So how was your weekend?" Rhodey asked.

"Pretty good. We dropped her off, unloaded her stuff and met her roommate. Then had dinner and we left this afternoon." Tony said.

"Yeah. And before we left for our hotel, it was Tony's own idea to have dinner together. Isn't it remarkable?" Pepper teased.

"Yeah, it is! Tony never shows for family meals." Rhodey teased back.

"Hey, I have lots of good ideas!" Tony defended himself.

"Yeah. Sure." Pepper joked.

"Hey, wanna hear one? Deciding to marry you. I have some pretty beneficial ideas." Tony said, more quietly so the kids wouldn't hear. Pepper smiled and giggled.

"Ok, so you have a point there." Pepper said quietly back.

"So, what did you guys do while we were gone? Wild party?" Tony asked.

"Not much. Just sat here and bonded." Rhodey answered.

"Wow, I'm sorry I missed that party." Tony said sarcastically. He smiled. Autumn and Michael didn't say anything about what they'd previously learned about their father's childhood.

"Well, we gotta get going. It's getting late." Rhodey said, patting Tony's back.

"Alright. You do that." Tony said tiredly. Rhodey gathered his two kids and said goodbye, then left.

"Well, I'm going to be downstairs for a little bit." Tony said. Pepper rolled her eyes and went off to their bedroom to unpack their bags. Autumn went to her room while Michael went downstairs to talk with his dad.

"Hey, dad." Michael greeted.

"Hey, Mic. Did you have fun with Uncle James this weekend?" Tony asked.

"Yeah. We had fun." Michael said.

"That's good." Tony said, not looking up from his work. He was under one of his cars, fixing it. It had been experiencing a few issues over the past few uses.

"Hey, dad? Can I ask you something?" Michael asked.

"Sure, sport. What's on your mind?" Tony asked, not coming out from underneath his car.

"Well, Uncle James told us a few stories, and I was curious…aren't you ever still afraid of losing more people in your life?" Michael asked. Tony stopped what he was doing and thought for a moment. Then he came out from underneath the car and walked over to Michael.

"Honestly, I am. But then I remember that now I make the rules, and I get to prevent that from happening." Tony said. Michael nodded.

"How much did Uncle James tell you, anyways?" Tony asked.

"Well, about when mom died and when dad died and what happened after mom died. But that's it." Michael explained.

"Oh." Tony recalled the three memories. He recalled himself telling his father that they could be strong together. He remembered losing everything in one fateful plane crash. Then a feeling of anger overwhelmed him for a moment as he recalled why the plane crashed in the first place.

"I'm going to get to bed now. Night dad." Michael said.

"Good. Tell your mother I'm going to take care of some unfinished business." Tony said. Michael nodded and left.

**Bah bah baaah! Lol (x it was interesting, no? ok, probably not THAT interesting. Oh well, it was a filler. Needed to be done. So review, foo!**


	8. Making Amends

**Hey! I'm trying to end this story this chapter. Hopefully it will go over well!**

"What's your father doing?" Pepper asked.

"I dunno. He said he had some 'unfinished business to attend to'?" Michael said. Pepper gasped.

"Unfinished business? Oh no. Mic, I'll be back. You're in charge." Pepper ran down to the basement.

"Tony? Tony are you still here?" Pepper asked. Then she spotted him getting into the Iron Man armor.

"Tony, stop right now!" Pepper ran over to him. Tony ignored her.

"Tony, I'm telling you that this isn't the way to go! Violence isn't the answer!" Pepper tried. They failed to notice Autumn standing in the doorway.

"Then what am I supposed to do? Gene is somewhere out there and my father could be alive!" Tony snapped.

"Tony, I know it's hard for you sometimes but you have to understand that you have to leave it be! There's nothing more you can do. Remember that day you confronted him in senior year? He said your father was _gone_. As in, he _escaped_ from Gene. He's just plain gone now, Tony. Please, don't start things with Gene again." Pepper spoke softly. Tony sighed.

"I know. It's just that, sometimes I get so caught up in memories that I forget that I lost everything I had." Tony said, getting out of the armor. In the doorway to the lab at the top of the stairs, hugging her teddy bear in her pajamas, gaped at this new side of her father that she'd never seen before. She knew he was Iron Man, but not that he had such a dark side to him.

"It's hard, Tony, I know. Losing everything you had, I can imagine was tough to go through. But you built all that up again, Tony. Come on, you should get some rest. It's been a long day." Pepper rubbed his back. Tony nodded. Autumn quickly ran back to her room before she was seen snooping. Tony went to bed and quickly fell asleep. Having heard a racket coming from the basement, Michael came to his doorway when Pepper was passing it.

"Dad ok?" He asked.

"Yeah. He just broke down for a moment." Pepper answered. Michael nodded and went back inside his room.

The next day, there was a knock on the front door. Tony stood from the living room couch in his pajama bottoms and no shirt, where he was eating his cereal and opened the door. When he saw who was at the door, he put his bowl of cereal down on the table beside him with eyes widened.

"Gene?" Tony said. Gene nodded.

"Tony, who's at the…" Pepper came in the room, but stopped in her tracks when she saw him there. Pepper felt a burst of anger.

"Gene? What are you doing here?" Pepper asked with anger.

"Relax. I come in peace."

"What?" Pepper asked, confused.

"I've come here today to right the wrong I've done to you." Gene said, lowering his head shamefully. He'd achieved acquiring all ten rings, and felt the power. The destiny. Then he remembered the lengths he went to just to get the rings in the first place: taking a boy's father from him. He wanted to right his wrong, it was no lie, but Howard had escaped so many years before.

"I came to tell you what you should know. As I've told you before, your father escaped from me years ago. But I'm here to tell you that there's one thing I feel I should return to you." Gene held out Howard's diary that he'd never returned; on purpose. It helped him get the sixth through tenth rings a little.

"My dad's diary!" Tony said under his breath. He carefully grabbed it then looked back to Gene.

"Thanks." Tony said.

**The endddd! Brain fart :/ couldn't think of anything more to put here. Sarry. Review!**


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